


Lighthouse

by Allthephils



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, mermaid au, talk of drowning but everyone is ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 13:30:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16198487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allthephils/pseuds/Allthephils
Summary: When Dan was a little boy, he fell off a cruise ship and was rescued by a beautiful friend who always hoped he’d come back.It’s just a simple mermaid au. Written for the mermaid square on my phandomficfestbingo card.I know it seems dark at the start but I promise it gets happier.





	Lighthouse

The screams of his mother, suddenly muffled, are drifting further and further away. Terror has turned to peace somehow as he sinks deeper and deeper. He wonders when his mother will appear.  _ I’ll always find you, Daniel,  _ she had said once, when he’d been lost at a busy outdoor market in a sea of adults and prams and languages he didn’t understand. She’d held him tight, her tears mixing with his on his cheek,  _ I’m here, love.  _

In stilted slow motion, he turns on a watery axis. He would call out,  _ mum,  _ but there’s no sound in this place. It’s a lovely place, it was cold, but he’s warm now. He’s a little sleepy, maybe he’ll just close his eyes. 

A hand slips into his own, cool and soft.  _ Mum?  _ No, it fits, this hand fits perfectly in his. He’s too sleepy to play. Fluttering, fighting to stay closed, his eyes let in just a peek, then blink open to wide eyes, staring back at him. A boy, he looks nice. His eyes look like the sky looked from under here before he got too deep to see. He’s pale against the dark expanse all around them. Pulling Dan along, he swims straight up, but it’s too much with Dan pulling down, drifting away, giving in to sleep. Hands on his cheeks feel sweet and then a kiss and Dan’s lungs burn, but he giggles.

The boy pokes a finger to Dan’s cheek and laughs, silent, his hand flying to cover his mouth. He flits about, grabbing at Dan’s feet, swatting at his shirt as it sways in the water. Pointing up, at least Dan thinks it’s up, the boy pulls and pulls, determined to move. Dan doesn’t want to go. Something tells him the boy cant come with him and something louder tells him he has to swim. Suddenly, he kicks, everything in his body says go, find the surface, find your mum. He kicks and kicks, and the boy pulls and something cold hits his skin where his shirt has floated up. It shimmers as the boy moves through the water, shimmers the color of his eyes. 

There’s light shining through, they’re almost there. The boy looks back with a smile. His tongue pokes between his teeth and Dan giggles again. Small arms wrap around Dan’s shoulders and then he’s cradled in them and being lifted past the surface. Air rushes in, filling his lungs, it hits like a shove and it stings. Instincts throw his head back, his arms out like a starfish as he breathes, big deep gulps of air, and he hears her.

“Daniel! There!” 

A splash and two sets of big arms pull him out of the water and onto a boat, a tiny boat. It’s so bright out here but he focuses on his mother’s teary face. 

“He’s ok, he’s ok.” She says. “You’re ok.” She scoops him up and holds him like she did when he was a baby. He rests his head on her soft body and listens to her heart beating so fast. 

“I’m cold,” he says and he doesn’t understand why she laughs but she does and she pulls a blanket from the floor of the boat to cover him. They make their way back to the ship, Dan resting in the safe arms of his mother. In the distance, a ripple in the water catches his eye, just a small disturbance in the water and he sits, bolt upright.

“Settle, bear,” his mother says, “it’s all ok now.”

He thinks he sees a flicker of blue eyes but he can’t be sure, it’s so far away and he’s so tired. Then, through the water a flash of blue, the sun glinting off each tiny scale as they bend and move so gracefully. With a final, playful slap of the water, it’s gone. 

  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


This cliff is his favorite place to paint. It is difficult to balance the easel with all the rocks, but he manages. He could put the canvas in his lap but he gets restless. With his luck, it would all end up in the sea. His mother hates that he comes here.  _ Why can’t you just paint buildings Daniel? I’ll buy you a train ticket to Paris. So many beautiful things to paint there. Maybe figure painting? You could find your muse. _

At this point, he doesn't mention it. She takes it better when she sees the painting finished, hanging, and with that little red sold dot on the label. After spending over a decade talking her ear off about marine biology, he’d dropped out after his second year at uni. If his paintings weren’t selling, he’s not sure how he’d justify any of that, or any of this. A mason jar full of water tumbles from the rock where he’d perched it, rather precariously. He cranes his neck to see it crash onto the rocks below.  _ Note to self, don’t fall off the cliff.  _ There’s a sick twist in his stomach at that thought that means it’s time to pack up for today.

Carefully, Dan lays the still wet painting on the ground behind him and folds his easel and supplies neatly away into their leather case. The waves crash into the cliff face beneath him. The sound is at once frightening and comforting and he’d like to close his eyes and listen but he doesn’t dare. There’s barely a strip of sand left stretching to his left, the tide is so high. He pulls the strap of his case over his shoulder and picks up his canvas when something flips up from the white foam near the rocks below the cliff. Dolphins play in these waves sometimes but he’s never seen them at this time of year, and not when the water is so wild. He takes a step closer to the edge and the hairs on his arms stand up. He could have sworn he saw a tail but that’s not a tail, that’s an arm and a shoulder and now he can clearly make out a head. Someone’s in the water. 

“Shit!”  _ Shit shit shit.  _ Dan drops his bag and canvas and scurries around to where the way down to the sand isn’t so steep. He loses sight of the water for a moment but it’s the only way down. Stood in the few feet of dry sand left, he scans the water frantically.  _ Where did they go? I can’t.”  _ He steps out of his shoes, sticks his phone in one of them and puts them behind him, a little higher up, hoping they don’t wash away. He wishes he believed in something so he could ask for a little help but it appears he’s on his own so he swallows his fear and runs forward. Submerged to his knees he’s about to dive in when his heart stops in his chest. Further up the shore, he sees a figure in the sand.

_ Fuck.  _

Running as fast as he can with the water working against him, he shouts to anyone that could hear, “Help! Hey! Help us!”

There’s no one. He knows that, it’s why he comes here. He learned CPR once, he searches his brain for something helpful, he wishes he would have grabbed his phone so he could call for help. He’ll have to go back for it.  _ Staying Alive,  _ that’s the beat for CPR, he remembers, praying to no one that he doesn’t have to use that knowledge. And there it is, a few feet ahead, a person, a body, a man, he thinks. 

“Please don’t be dead.” He whispers to himself. He’s so pale, that can’t be good, and he’s tall, as tall as Dan. There’s no way he’ll be able to carry him. He walks around to see his face and kneels down and it’s only then that he realizes the man is not wearing any clothes. His lips are impossibly pink. That’s good. He looks ok, peaceful, asleep. Dan pulls off his coat and lays it over the man. 

“Ok. I don’t think your dead.” Dan says to the man, his hand on his cheek. “I’m gonna get my phone, I’ll call 999. Get you some help.” Before Dan can get up out of the sand, the man’s eyes open slowly and a soft smile appears on his lips. Collapsing with relief, Dan practically shouts, “Oh! You’re not dead! Thank fuck. Holy shitballs. Oh my god.” Dan really should call 999. Washing up on the shore, naked, smiling, and barely talking is not generally a sign of stability or health. Something in this man’s eyes calls to him though. They are so familiar, and Dan can’t bring himself to send this guy off to some NHS mental hospital for evaluation. He can’t explain it but the urge to protect this complete stranger is strong. So he really only has one option, he helps the man into his coat, puts on his shoes, and drives them both back to his place.

“I’ll put the kettle on. Tea or coffee?” 

The man drops the coat the minute they are in the warm house and only smiles at the offer of a hot drink. 

“Oh hello. Ok, um. The naked is, it’s a lot. You’re very pretty but I, why did I say that? Fuck, shit, listen, just sit, ok?” He does and Dan covers him with a blanket.

“Do you speak English?” Still smiling.  _ Jesus, what did I get myself into?  _

“Tea it is.” 

Dan mumbles obscenities, confused and anxious as he fixes a tray of tea and biscuits in his little kitchen. After setting the tray down, he pours them both a cuppa like this is fucking aunt Ida and not a random naked man he just found at the beach. 

“Here you go,” Dan sounds as if he talking to a small child, “it’s well sugared.”

The man takes his cup and sips. 

“Thank you Daniel.” He says sweetly and Dan fumbles his cup, splashing tea on his jeans and nearly choking. He stands, instinctively backing away. 

“How the fuck do you know my name?”

“They called out to you. I heard them, I could never forget that.” He sips again and smiles, his tongue poking through his teeth. That smile, something in Dan softens and he moves back to sit. 

Transfixed by this face he knows but can’t place, he asks, “What’s your name?”

“Faodail” He says.

“Daffodil?”

Faodail laughs, “Faodail!”

“Um, Fad-jool?” Dan’s trying, he really is, but the accent in the name is strong and this guy is looking at him like Dan is some kind of rare treasure. It’s hard to focus.

“What if I call you Phil? Is that offensive? I’m sorry, I just feel like we’ve got bigger fish to fry here.” 

Phil scrunches his nose and pouts but says, “Phil,” and nods. His tea is empty and he sets the cup down. Dan is about to offer a biscuit and a refill when Phil climbs on top of him, the blanket falling to the floor. He smiles a big goofy smile down at Dan and proceeds to kiss him right on the mouth. It’s lovely and soft and Dan melts into it but only for a moment.

“Phil, what are you doing?”

“Kissing you.”

“You can’t just go around kissing people!”

“I don’t. I’m kissing you Daniel.” He says, matter of factly, and then goes in for another kiss.

Dan’s first thought is to push him off his lap but his second thought is  _ Oh this is very nice.  _ And his third is,  _ he tastes like candy.  _ And they keep coming as Phil keeps kissing.  _ His skin is soft. His tongue is so gentle. His hands are in my hair. His ass is… Oh Jesus. _

Dan pulls his lips away. “Phil no. You have to stop. You don’t even know me and…”

“Of course I know you, Daniel.” Phil says, “I watch you make your paintings. I was so happy when you came back.”

“Came back?” Dan looks up into Phil’s eyes, trying to make sense of the somersaults his heart is doing.

Running his fingers through Dan’s hair, Phil just stares with those eyes. Those blue eyes, the color of the sky if you saw it through a filter of aquamarine.  _ Oh my god. It can’t be.  _ A wave of joy and wonder washes through Dan and a grin spreads wide across his face. Phil immediately pokes a fingertip into his dimple and all doubt disappears. 

“It is you! You saved me! Everyone said I’d hallucinated from the lack of oxygen but you’re real. I knew it! I fucking knew you were real!” His eyes fill with tears and he embraces Phil who holds him twice as tightly. “Dan though, ok?” Dan leans back to look at Phil. “Only my mum calls me Daniel and I don’t want to think about her right now.” Phil nods and does the two things he’s established he’s good at, he smiles and he kisses Dan.

  
  
  
  


When Dan tells his mum the story, he’ll leave out the part where they spent three days in bed before Dan gave Phil something to wear. Instead, he’ll share how he went out and bought every flavor of Haribo and fizzy sweet at the store just so Phil could taste them all. He’ll say Phil is funny and kind and has a garden at home where he grows his own food. He’ll tell her that he’s never smiled so much as he has since Phil came back to him. He’ll show her the paintings and say he found his muse. They’re good, the paintings, really good. Phil is all angles and curves and he’s, well he’s a work of art. 

 

The tears are awful. He’s going to miss her too but Phil says he can come back to visit, once a year for a week or so. He could stay longer but it gets uncomfortable. It’s getting uncomfortable for Phil, they really don’t have much time. It should be difficult to convince her but it’s not. That day is vivid in her memory, every single moment is still alive for her. She saw just the faintest hint of eyes out there in the surf. She knew something brought her baby back to her and she was sure it would one day take him back. 

“I always knew I’d lose you to the sea, Daniel.”

Meeting Phil is tense until he works his magic. No mother could resist that sweet smile and all the yes ma’am and oh my gosh. Sitting in her son’s Versace pajamas, because Phil thinks Dan’s clothes all look like nighttime, he holds her hands and laughs at her mum jokes. She sees his eyes and cries, she tells him thank you, again and again. 

Dan’s mum drives them to the beach. They wear swim trunks for her benefit. Phil leans over to hug her, lifting her right off the ground and she kisses his cheek.

“If anything happens to my baby boy, I will come down there. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am. Understood.” Phil answers, genuinely a little scared of her.

There is a long embrace and Dan hunches down to let her wipe his tears. She holds his face in her hands and tells him she loves him.

“I love you too mum. I’ll see you in one year, right here.”

Wiping her cheeks, she waves her arms as if to shoo Dan and Phil away. With one more loving glance to his mother and a deep breath, Dan takes Phil’s hand. They walk together until it’s too deep to stand. Dan’s heart races, old fears die hard but soon he’s floating, effortless. Phil pushes his owns trunks down and off then reaches to do the same for Dan, winking unsuccessfully. 

“Ready?” Phil asks and his voice is like music among the waves. 

Dan says, “Yes, Phil, I’m ready.” He has never meant anything so much in his life. Phil’s soft lips meet his in a long sweet kiss just before they dive together into the depths.

From the shore, she sees them, two beautiful shimmering tails. One is the most stunning shade of blue, the other, a deep charcoal grey that shines like hematite in the sun. Then quickly, almost too quick to catch, brown eyes shimmering impossibly from the surf.  _ He’s ok, he’s ok. _

 

The End.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on Tumblr @allthephils


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